which included mayonnaise and sour cream, and a few other things that are strangers to authentic Greek tzatziki! The responses she got to her recipe were excited affirmations that this indeed sounded like the tzatziki they’d all tried and loved in the States. I struggled with my response… Should I write back and explain that tzatziki, the way we have it here in Greece, is a very simple recipe?

I ran a quick online check for tzatziki recipes (try it yourself!) and indeed, quite a few of the recipes I found included sour cream or mayo. This made me think of the various flavored Hummus recipes you find in other countries (what? you didn’t know that original Hummus does not come in flavors such as red pepper? Well, that’s a discussion for another day!).

Tzatziki is something I take very seriously, being a very serious tzatziki aficionado. When I was much (much much) younger my family called me “miss tzatziki,” making sure to order a plate of that heavenly stuff just for me every time we went out. What’s more delicious than dipping your bread, your meat, your fries, your fried zucchini, your everything into that wonderfully-flavored yogurt? I finally decided to answer my online friends, explaining that although their version of tzatziki sounded quite yummy, real tzatziki is a very plain yogurt-garlic-salt-oil recipe that is sometimes accessorized with dill or vinegar. I decided to do so, with the hope that they’d find this delicious (and certainly healthier!) recipe satisfactory. Here is the recipe we love to make here at home, passed down from my yiayia. I hope you enjoy it, too.

If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you could strain your yogurt on some napkins overnight. Try to change the napkins often so they soak up all the ‘water’ from your yogurt.

3 cups of strained yogurt
1 small cucumber very finely grated
3-4 garlic bulbs
1/4 tsp of salt
3-4 spoons of olive oil
3 spoons of dill (optional)
splash of vinegar

Mix the yogurt, cucumber, garlic, splash of vinegar, and salt. Dill has a very strong flavor, so you could leave it out altogether or put as much as you’d like. Garnish with olive oil. Enjoy!!

Ingredients

1/2 kilo unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
2 ½ teaspoons pure almond extract
8 tablespoons powdered sugar
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
5 to 5 ½ cups flour
Pinch of salt

Makes about 5 dozen

To read this recipe in full, please visit: Cooking For Keeps

But then we get mix-ins of gently cooked shallots and spinach, and a healthy helping of dill. The whole dish is finished with toasty breadcrumbs and crumbled feta cheese.

INGREDIENTS

3 slices crustless white bread, torn into small pieces
9 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Kosher salt, to taste
200 gr hollow pasta, preferably elbow macaroni
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk
4 cups grated graviera or kefalotyri cheese (about 350 gr)
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
8 large shallots, finely chopped
16 oz. baby spinach, roughly chopped
8 scallions cut into 1/4"-thick rounds
1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh dill
1 3/4 cups crumbled feta (about 350 gr)

INSTRUCTIONS                

1. Put bread into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Put bread crumbs and 3 tbsp. butter into a small bowl and combine; set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until cooked halfway through, about 3 minutes. Drain pasta, rinse with cold water, and set aside.

2. Heat remaining butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute. Still whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in milk and cook until sauce has thickened and coats the back of a spoon, 10–15 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Stir in graviera, cinnamon, and nutmeg and season with salt and pepper; set béchamel sauce aside.

3. Heat oven to 180°. Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring often, until soft, 3–4 minutes. Add spinach and scallions and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir in the reserved béchamel sauce, the dill, and the reserved pasta and transfer mixture to a 22cm x 30cm baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with reserved bread crumbs and the feta. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serves 8–10.

For more information, please visit Sources: www.thekitchn.com and www.saveur.com

To get even more whole grains in there I replaced the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. These Greek style tomato fritters came together just as easily as the zucchini fritters with the only real difference being the amount of flour that was required to handle the extra juices from the tomatoes. The tomato fritters were so good! They were nice and crispy on the outside and warm and moist and full of flavour on the inside. The tomato and feta combo is a great one and it worked really well in these fritters. I served the tomato fritters with a side of tzatziki, a Greek cucumber salad, for dipping.
(makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

4 large tomatoes (peeled, seeded and diced)
4 sundried tomatoes (chopped)
4 ounces feta (crumbled)
1/4 cup herbs (such as dill, mint, parsley, chopped)
2 green onions (sliced)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
2 eggs
1/4 cup fine bulgur wheat
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup whole wheat flour
* whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Mix the tomatoes, feta, herbs, green onions, oregano, paprika, eggs, bulgur, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
2. Slowly mix in some whole wheat flour until the mixture becomes thick enough to form into patties.
3. Heat the oil in a pan.
4. Form the tomato mixture into patties and fry in the oil until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side.

Author: Kevin Lynch

www.closetcooking.com

 

 

Ingredients

2 ½ tbsp olive oil, plus a little bit more for the pan
3 tbsp butter, soft and unsalted
1/3 cup cocoa powder, sugar-free
3/4 cup all -purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
2/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp soda powder
1/2 cup Greek strained yogurt
2 ½ tbsp water
1/2 scant tsp vanilla powder
2/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
Sour cherry sweet preserve as topping

Instructions

Place the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375F/180C.
Butter a round cake pan 10-in./22.5 cm in diameter and sprinkle with cocoa powder.
Mix the flour, 2/3 cup cocoa powder, baking powder, soda, and a little bit of salt in a bowl.
In another bowl, whisk the yogurt, water, and vanilla.
Combine the olive oil, butter, and sugar in the large mixer bowl, on medium speed, until the mixture very fluffy and pale yellow.
Add the eggs one by one, beating all the while.
Turn the mixer to low speed and add half of the flour mixture.
Pour in the yogurt mixture and the remaining flour mixture. Beat all the ingredients together until smooth and combined, and then transfer to the cake pan.
Bake the cake for about 30-40 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center to test it for doneness. If it comes out clean, the cake is baked.

By Diane Kochilas

www.dianekochilas.com

2006 Pavlou Estate Klima

The Pavlou Estate in the Amyndeon region focuses on Xinomavro, the great red grape of northern Greece. (The winery even creates an intriguing white blend from it by crushing the grapes, then immediately discarding the skins.) This 100-percent-Xinomavro bottling shows off the variety’s distinctive dried-cherry flavors and streamlined tannic structure.

2004 Katogi & Strofilia Agiorgitiko

Dark cherry and espresso notes characterize this focused Agiorgitiko, which comes from a wine producer based in Macedonia. (One of its founders, Evangelos Averoff, was also the first winemaker in Greece to plant Cabernet Sauvignon, back in the ’50s.)

2007 Kir-Yianni Paranga

Yiannis Boutaris founded Kir-Yianni in 1997 after leaving Boutari, the company his grandfather founded in 1879. Since then, Kir-Yianni has become one of Greece’s top producers on the strength of wines such as this peppery Xinomavro blend, distinguished by its juicy cherry-berry flavors.

2006 Pavlidis Thema Red

Located in a narrow valley in the northern Greek region of Drama, the small, ambitious Pavlidis Estate creates a focused range of top-quality wines from hand-harvested grapes. This violet-hued blend of Syrah and Agiorgitiko combines peppery, gamey aromas with rich black-fruit flavors.

2005 Skouras Megas Oenos

George Skouras, this estate’s owner and winemaker, was among the first in Greece to blend international and local grape varieties. This bottling, which is largely old-vine St. George (an alternate name for Agiorgitiko) with about 20 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, has bright berry fruit with a note of blackberry liqueur.

2005 Tselepos Cabernet-Merlot

Yiannis Tselepos, one of the central figures of the Greek wine renaissance, started his Peloponnesian winery in 1989 after studying enology in Dijon, France, and working for several years in Burgundy. Known for his graceful Moscofilero white, he also makes this smoky, elegant red, full of black-currant fruit.

2004 Palivou Estate Terra Leone Ammos

This voluptuous, rosemary-scented Agiorgitiko, lush with potent black-cherry fruit, comes from fourth-generation proprietor—as well as first-generation winemaker—George Palivos. For this high-end bottling, grapes from a single vineyard Palivos owns high in the Neméa valley receive lengthy aging in French oak. Somehow, though, the oak notes don’t dominate the flavors of the wine.

www.foodandwine.com